The Blue Room

THE STORY: Years after surviving a mass shooting at a music venue, Elaine Lang must now survive her first-ever TV interview. Under the glare of the studio lights, she finds herself living two realities: the reality of the interview, and her dark memory-scape, inhabited by the ghost of Kit Lovelock, the musician-turned-shooter who she once admired.

THE VISION

The Blue Room seeks to push expectations of psychological drama, especially within the constraints of a student film production. It favours stylistic visual storytelling over realism. Elaine's psyche, wrought by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is visualised as a dream-like realm that interjects the tense reality of being questioned in the TV interview studio. 

Influences include David Lynch, Lynne Ramsay and, unashamedly, American Horror Story.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR/WRITER

My name is Christienne Jauregui. I'm an Auckland-based videographer, producer and director. As a creative, I aim to use visual medium to present ideas about mental health, the LGBTQ community and women's livelihood.

In my previous work as a director/writer, I revel in the quiet terrors and absurdities of everyday life, as seen in Craving (2015), a twisted micro comedy about drunken binge-eating, and The Red Man (2016), which shows the alternate reality of a high-functioning neurotic. I have also brought directorial visions to life as a producer and member of the independent film collective Run Shosanna Productions.

This year I'm back at the University of Auckland for my post-graduate Honours in Screen Production and in this way, I can expand my director's reel with more short films. The Blue Room will be my final Honours short film project.

WHERE THE MONEY WILL GO

The bulk of the budget comes from my humble personal savings from working in hospitality part-time alongside studying full time. The project will need further financial support to hire the best shoot locations and props; to make sure that the cast and crew involved are taken care of in terms of food, beverages and transport; and to have a contingency fund in case of unforseen production costs.

Any amount of donation will be deeply appreciated. Because BOOSTED provides an all-or-nothing crowdfunding platform, it is important that The Blue Room reaches its goal. Updates, teasers and stills from the project will be posted regularly from the campaign launch until its closing date.

Curious to see what Christienne and her fellow members of Run Shosanna Productions have done? Visit http://runshosanna.com and view the available video content in the Portfolio tab.